Radio Caroline Radio Caroline by • Music - 1960s , Music - 1970s • Tags: Radio The first British pirate radio station, Radio Caroline, was founded by Ronan O'Rahilly in 1964. Having persuaded five City millionaires to back him, he acquired a ship, a crew of disc jockeys and engineers, two 10-kilowatt transmitters (£50,000 apiece) and a stack of records. The station started broadcasting on 29 March 1964, when DJ Simon Dee uttered the words, "Hello everybody. This is Radio Caroline, broadcasting on 199, your all-day music station". He was speaking from a small studio onboard the 702 ton former passenger ferry Frederica, known to its listeners as Radio Caroline. As was the case with most European countries, British law only prohibited commercial radio broadcasting on land. By basing itself in the North Sea, Caroline was able to exploit this legal loophole, providing British teenagers with all-day rock & roll fun, while simultaneously providing O' Rahilly with all-day profit from advertisers.

The DJ's on Caroline took their shore leave in Holland and Dutch boats carried their supplies and records to the ship. All British offshore pirate radio stations were silenced by the government's Marine Offences Act in Autumn 1967. The banning coincided with the launch of Radio One by the BBC - which was created as a carbon copy of the pirate stations. Caroline continued to broadcast for six months, but the lack of advertising, failing morale of the DJ's (who were all now exiles from the UK) and the huge distances over which supplies had to be transported, gradually wore the station down. Their continued broadcasting, though, was an embarrassment to the Labour government which had vowed to sink the pirates. Both Caroline ships went silent in early March 1968 and were towed from their anchorages to Holland, where they gradually deteriorated as they were looted and vandalised. The MV Caroline eventually went to the scrapyard, but Mi Amigo was rescued and was ultimately taken back to sea. Radio Caroline was back.

For a while the station broadcast Dutch language (and style) radio during the day and English Caroline programmes at night, before the Mi Amigo was towed to a desolate anchorage in the Knock Deep at the mouth of the Thames Estuary visible from neither the Kent or Essex coasts. At this location - and ostensibly operated and supplied from Playa De Aro in Spain - Radio Caroline and the ship commenced their next six lonely, difficult but remarkable years. Rather than compete with Radio One , Ronan O'Rahilly decreed that Caroline should now play only album music. Listeners were now subjected to a diet of Led Zeppelin , Eric Clapton , Jethro Tull , Yes , Lynyrd Skynyrd , Barclay James Harvest and their ilk. On 19 March 1980 Mi Amigo broke anchor and - lifted by the rising tide - was pounded on the seabed, with many leaks springing up in the engine and generator rooms at the stern. After struggling for eight hours with portable pumps the crew admitted defeat. Tom Anderson and DJ Stevie Gordon told listeners "It's not a very good occasion really, we have to hurry this because the lifeboat is waiting.

We're not leaving and disappearing, we're going into the lifeboat hoping that the pumps can take it, if so, we'll be back, if not, well we really don't like to say it. I'm sure we'll be back one way or another. For the moment from all of us, goodbye and God Bless". These were the last words spoken on air from the Mi Amigo's transmitters. A few minutes after the crew were rescued by the lifeboat Helen Turnbull, the ship's lights went out as seawater engulfed the generator and Mi Amigo sank. Radio Caroline was relaunched in 1983, now broadcasting from an ex-trawler called MV Ross Revenge. The station continued broadcasting until the horrendous storms of 1987 destroyed the 300 foot aerial on the ship. This was replaced by two more modest aerials, but on On Saturday 19 August 1989 the unthinkable happened. The large Dutch vessel Volans (with armed officials on board) and the British launch Landward closed in on the Ross Revenge and boarded and took control of the ship as disc jockeys relayed a blow by blow account of events to the astonished listeners.

Once the transmitters were silenced, the Dutch stripped the ship of all broadcast equipment while the British attempted to interrogate the crew under threat of arrest. All this happened in International waters where the boarders had no official powers, and the raiders eventually left, taking with them all of the records, studios and transmitting equipment and leaving behind some vandalism and deliberate damage. Using land-based studios leased in Kent in the late 1990s, Radio Caroline began broadcasting via satellite. These analogue transmissions ended and a full digital service started in February 2003. The station has been streamed on the internet for many years, accessible via the station's website at RELATED ARTICLES Pirate Radio film – Learning from Dogs Radio Caroline A real blast from the past! Recently we rented the film, Pirate Radio, a somewhat ‘true’ story about the days of broadcasting rock and roll from a ship moored just outside British waters. Here’s the official trailer of the film (somewhat glitzy as is the manner of Hollywood): Anyone of my sort of vintage living in England during the 1960s will recall the fun and excitement of Radio Caroline, the name of the radio station that started up in 1964.

Here’s a good extract from the WikiPedia entry : Radio Caroline is an English radio station founded in 1964 by Ronan O’Rahilly, to circumvent the tight hold the record companies had on the broadcast of popular music in the UK. It originally commenced transmissions as an offshore radio station broadcasting from a ship anchored in international waters off the coast of South East England. Originally unlicensed by any government, for the majority of its early life, it was labelled as a pirate radio station. Radio Caroline Amazingly, at its peak Radio Caroline had an audience of 23 million listeners. In a very real way Radio Caroline was another symbol of what became known as the Swinging Sixties, a transformation period for post-war Britain. Tony Blackburn was just one of many famous disk jockeys who started life out on Radio Caroline, with Tony being the first presenter of the BBC’s Radio 1 station, broadcasting popular music, when it came on air on the 30th September, 1967. Tony Blackburn, some while ago! Anyway, if you are nostalgic towards the ‘good’ old days of the sixties, do watch the film.

By Paul Handover Dog Kisses's Blog Dogkisses’s blog is a personal life, health and story blog. Dreamwalker's Sanctuary A Sanctuary for Inspirational Thoughts of Light, Love and Peace. For the love of the dog! Wonderful passion about all matters canine! Freedom to Survive Nakibul Hoq, blogging from Bangladesh in the city of Dhaka. Lime Bird Writers Limebird was created in 2011, designed with writers in mind Naked Capitalism How Yves Smith finds the time to produce the huge volume of articles and website links every day is beyond me. Patrice Ayme A thinker in pursuit of truth. Spirit of Now Peter Russell’s very thoughtful journey. Transition Culture This important site explores the emerging transition model in its many manifestations. WordPress.com Supporting this Blog – well done, the team All contents are copyright of the authors. Learning from Dogs is a trademark of the author. Brief History of the Pirate Radio Stations (UK) Brief History of the Pirate Radio Stations (UK) Category: Culture In the early 60s Ronan O'Rahilly was a nightclub owner in London's Soho district and managed a number of pop music artists including Georgie Fame.

He quickly realised the record industry was controlled by giants like EMI and Decca and the BBC were restricted to the amount of records they could play by agreements with the Musicians’ Union and other organisations. He was constantly frustrated by not having his artists’ works heard and took the unorthodox step of setting up a pirate radio station which would broadcast outside the territorial waters of the UK. He founded Radio Caroline (named after Caroline Kennedy) which did not hold a government licence and hence the title pirate radio station. Radio Caroline was the first station to broadcast all day using the English language and commenced transmissions on March 28th, 1964 from an ex-passenger ferry named MV Frederica, anchored in international waters off the coast of Felixstowe, (Suffolk, England). Simon Dee was the first DJ to broadcast and Caroline was on 197.3 metres (1520 kHz) at the high end of the medium wave band.

To avoid direct competition with the established Radio Luxembourg, which started broadcasting in the English language from 6pm, the new station ran from 6am to 6pm daily under the slogan "Your all-day music station." The station’s demographic was initially UK housewives who had access to wireless and transistors at home. Obviously Caroline could be picked up in Western Europe and for the first time since World War II, listeners could hear English broadcasts and pop music during the day. Within a very short period of time Caroline established a substantial audience. Keen to attract the young teenage audience the station broadcast after 8pm up to just after midnight. This was a clever move because it avoided peak TV times and its music ensured teenagers’ interest. The Fortunes recorded the song "Caroline" in 1964 which became the station’s theme song. The first broadcast was a Thelonious Monk composition entitled “Round Midnight” sang by Jimmy McGriff. This later became official close down song.

Chris Moore presented the first programme and many of the Pirate Disc Jockeys like Tony Blackburn, Roger Day, Simon Dee, Tony Prince, Spangles Muldoon, Keith Skues, Johnnie Walker, Emperor Rosco, Robbie Dale, Dave Lee Travis and Andy Archer would become household names. The eclectic mix of music was the primary attraction of the pirate stations and many syndicated shows from the US, as well as pre-recorded religious programmes, were broadcast. What records were played depended on financial arrangements between record companies and whilst many stations stuck closely to the Top 40, Radio London left their playlists to the actual DJs. This gave an unprecedented exposure to dozens of new acts, including: The Honeycombes, PP Arnold, Unit Four Plus Two, Keith West, Chris Farlowe and Procol Harum, all of whom enjoyed immense success with one hit. Most of the call signs and jingles made for the pirate stations were produced in the US at the Fun Factory organisation in Austin, Texas. Caroline was not the first offshore station, that honour goes to the casino ship Rex, moored off California in the 1930s.

Nor was it the first in Europe as there were several offshore radio ships anchored off the coasts of Denmark and Sweden in the late 1950s and early 1960s. However Caroline’s success saw other pirate stations follow. Alan Crawford was an Australian music publisher and had the idea of starting Radio Atlanta. He purchased the MV Mi Amigo and fitted it with broadcasting equipment. Radio Atlanta began test broadcasts after 6pm on 197 metres in 1964. This was the same frequency as Radio Caroline, with the intention to steal Caroline's audience, but the station later changed to 201 metres. Most of the broadcasts were pre-recorded in London and transmitted from the ship. When audiences and advertising revenue failed to support the commercial venture, Radio Atlanta closed in July 1964 and Alan Crawford, somewhat reluctantly, joined Radio Caroline. When Caroline merged with the competitor station, Radio Atlanta, this allowed broadcasting from two ships. Together they were able to cover most of the British Isles and the western-most parts of continental northern Europe.

The original vessel, MV Frederica moved to the Bay of Ramsey, Isle of Man, to become Radio Caroline North and the MV Mi Amigo, the ex-Radio Atlanta ship remained anchored off the Essex coast and took the name Radio Caroline South. In 1967, concerned at the growing number of pirate stations broadcasting over the UK and the potential interference to foreign radio stations, the British government passed the Marine Broadcasting Offences Act which made it illegal to advertise or supply an offshore radio station from the UK. All the offshore stations off the British coast closed, with the exception of Radio Caroline, which moved its supply operation to the Netherlands where offshore broadcasting had not yet been outlawed. However, the advertising revenue from overseas sources was not forthcoming and the station was forced off the air less than a year later when the ships were impounded by the shipping company due to non payment. Six weeks after the Marine Offences Act was passed, the BBC introduced its national pop station Radio 1, modelled largely on the successful pirate formulae. Caroline did make a comeback in 1972 and was serviced and operated from the Netherlands.

Focus was more on album tracks than the Top 40 with the music of Pink Floyd; Emerson, Lake and Palmer; Led Zeppelin; Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Barclay James Harvest and Hawkwind regularly broadcast. Initially this proved successful but eventually narrowed the demographic. Combined with an absence of substantial advertising revenue meant Caroline had to share its metre frequency with other (non-English speaking) stations which meant the appeal was less the second time around. Also the establishment of Radio 1 and the new commercial stations based on the mainland meant the death knell of pirate radio as commercial ventures. Wonderful Radio London (the Big L) broadcast on 266m and played top 40 music (known as Fab 40). It started in 1964 and ran until 1967 from M V Galaxy (a former US minesweeper) anchored off Frinton-on-Sea, Essex. Unlike its rivals, Wonderful Radio London was a legitimate operation with its main offices in Central London although the majority of programmes were presented live from a studio in the ship’s hold. Wonderful Radio London was the brainchild of American, Don Pierson, who after reading about Radio Caroline decided to start his own station.

The Big L disc jockeys included: Chuck Blair; Tony Blackburn; Pete Brady; Tony Brandon; Dave Cash; Ian Damon; Chris Denning; Dave Dennis; Pete Drummond; John Edward; Kenny Everett; Tommy Vance; Ed ”Stewpot” Stewart and John Peel among many others. Radio London won a rare scoop and got an 8-day UK exclusive on the Beatles Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band which aired on 12 May 1967 and the album was in the shops on 1 June 1967. Despite its 12 million listeners in the United Kingdom and 4 million in the Netherlands, Belgium and France, Wonderful Radio London ceased broadcasting in 1967. This was just prior to the introduction of the Marine Broadcasting Offences Act. Some of Radio London’s jingles were used on the Who’s album The Who Sell Out. Radio Scotland was an offshore pirate radio station broadcasting on 242 metres from the former lightship M.V. Comet anchored at various locations off the Scottish coastline and had to change from time to time to achieve a signal that could be picked up throughout the central extremities of Scotland.

The station started broadcasting in 1965 and was the brainchild of Tommy Shields. The headquarters was at Radio Scotland House in Glasgow where the programmes were pre-recorded. The station closed in 1967 after the introduction of the Marine Offences Act 1967 legislation. Many of the Radio Scotland presenters like Paul Young, Jimmy Mack, Richard Park and Jack McLaughlan, all went on to have successful careers in broadcasting. BBC Radio 1 was launched in September 1967 as a direct response to the popularity of offshore pirate radio stations and broadcast on 242 metres. The programmes came from Studio D, on the first floor of Broadcasting House and featured Tony Blackburn (formerly Radio Caroline and 'Wonderful Radio London') opening the station with "Flowers in the Rain" by The Move and the second single was "Massachusetts" by The Bee Gees. The programme formats were similar to the pirate stations and many of the popular DJs, like Blackburn featured prominently. John Peel, Ed Stewart, Dave Cash, Kenny Everett, Simon Dee, Dee Lee Travis, Emperor Roscoe, Mike Reid, and Annie Nightingale all became firm favourites.

Needle time restrictions (a restriction on the amount of commercial music that could be played on radio) prevented it from playing as many records as offshore stations had, and limited finances from the State-run station meant Radio 1 was less successful at first but eventually, thanks to no real opposition, it gained massive audiences. Pick of the Pops presented by Australian DJ, Alan ‘Fluff” Freeman, was compulsive listening and ran from 1967 until 1972 and featured new entries to the top 30 best selling singles in the UK, as well as the complete Top 20. The Radio 1 Roadshow, which started in 1973, drew large crowds and featured many of the live acts of the time. Radio 1’s monopoly ended in 1973 when Independent Local Radio was introduced to the UK. Radio 1’s format has continued to evolve to meet public taste. Article Kippen C.

2013 Cameron K's blog Retrieved from Cameron K's Blog Many Thanks for allowing ZANI to reproduce this article Follow ZANI on Facebook Read About the Ghost of Radio Caroline | Eerie Place Read About the Ghost of Radio Caroline Stewart | On 08, Mar 2016 Radio Caroline was an unlicensed pirate radio station founded by Ronan O’Rahilly in 1964. From 1964 to 1990 it broadcasted from international waters using five different ships. The MV Ross Revenge was a former North Sea factory fishing trawler that the radio station used from 1983 onwards. The ship had a reputation for being haunted by the ghost of a fisherman nicknamed Sailor Sam. His phantom footsteps were often heard walking around the ship by those on board. But Sailor Sam’s apparition was also seen on many occasions… In 1987 the DJ Nigel Harris witnessed him pointing to the mast. The very next day the mast fell into the sea during a terrible storm! Witnesses described Sailor Sam’s apparition as wearing oilskins with a sou’wester.

It’s believed that Sam is either the ghost of a sailor who died in a fire on board the ship or a sailor who drowned after being caught up in fishing nets and pulled into the sea! Sam’s ghost was often seen in the toilet and in the galley areas of the ship. Although it may sounds spooky to share the confined space of a ship with a ghost, most of the crew actually though Sam was harmless!

Radio stations established in 1964 - englisches Buch - buecher.de Kino, TV, Theater Radio stations established in 1964 Radio Caroline, Wonderful Radio London, WCPT, WNSP, KTBZ-FM, Radio City, WXNY-FM, WUPE-FM, KMYK, WPGR, Manx Radio, Radio Atlanta, ABC Upper Hunter, WBEM, CBR, WGHT, DZLB, WNYT, WHSB, KSOP-FM, KSON, WUWM, DZLB-FM, WBOQ, WOOF-FM, WHIT Herausgeber: Source: Wikipedia Produkt erinnern Radio stations established in 1964 Radio Caroline, Wonderful Radio London, WCPT, WNSP, KTBZ-FM, Radio City, WXNY-FM, WUPE-FM, KMYK, WPGR, Manx Radio, Radio Atlanta, ABC Upper Hunter, WBEM, CBR, WGHT, DZLB, WNYT, WHSB, KSOP-FM, KSON, WUWM, DZLB-FM, WBOQ, WOOF-FM,

 WHIT Herausgeber: Source: Wikipedia Jetzt bewerten Source: Wikipedia.

Pages: 27. Chapters: Radio Caroline, Wonderful Radio London, WCPT, WNSP, KTBZ-FM, Radio City, WXNY-FM, WUPE-FM, KMYK, WPGR, Manx Radio, Radio Atlanta, ABC Upper Hunter, WBEM, CBR, WGHT, DZLB, WNYT, WHSB, KSOP-FM, KSON, WUWM, DZLB-FM, WBOQ, WOOF-FM, WHIT, Radio Mayak, WHEB, WENG, WDXE-FM. Excerpt: Radio Caroline is an English radio station founded in 1964 by Ronan O'Rahilly to circumvent the record companies' control of popular music broadcasting in the United Kingdom and the BBC's radio broadcasting monopoly. Unlicensed by any government for the majority of its early life, …mehr Produktbeschreibung Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 27.

Chapters: Radio Caroline, Wonderful Radio London, WCPT, WNSP, KTBZ-FM, Radio City, WXNY-FM, WUPE-FM, KMYK, WPGR, Manx Radio, Radio Atlanta, ABC Upper Hunter, WBEM, CBR, WGHT, DZLB, WNYT, WHSB, KSOP-FM, KSON, WUWM, DZLB-FM, WBOQ, WOOF-FM, WHIT, Radio Mayak, WHEB, WENG, WDXE-FM. Excerpt: Radio Caroline is an English radio station founded in 1964 by Ronan O'Rahilly to circumvent the record companies' control of popular music broadcasting in the United Kingdom and the BBC's radio broadcasting monopoly. Unlicensed by any government for the majority of its early life, it was considered a pirate radio station. Radio Caroline began test broadcasts on Friday, 27 March 1964, commencing full-time transmissions at noon on 29 March - Easter Sunday.

It broadcast from a former Danish ferry, the Fredericia, re-named MV Caroline and anchored three miles (5 km) off the coast of Felixstowe, Suffolk, England, just outside British territorial waters. In April 1964, Radio Atlanta began broadcasting from the MV Mi Amigo, a former coaster anchored off Harwich, Essex. Both stations operated independently for several months but underwent a merger of the companies' sales operations. The Caroline moved to an anchorage off Ramsey, Isle of Man and broadcast as Radio Caroline North while the MV Mi Amigo remained off the coast of Essex broadcasting as Radio Caroline South. The British government considered both operations as pirate radio stations. Both ships remained under independent ownership until December 1965 when the owners of Radio Caroline North bought Radio Caroline South. In 1966 the British Postmaster General, Anthony Wedgwood Benn, introduced a Bill to Parliament that outlawed unlicenced offshore broadcasting. This Bill became the Marine Offences Act and was enacted on 14 August 1967. The two Radio Caroline ships continued to broadcast with operations controlled from the Netherlands.

In March 1968, both ships were towed to the Netherlands, because of unpaid bills, by the Wijsmuller tug company. In 1970, Radio Caroline broadcast very briefly from the radio ship Mebo II, home of offshore station Radio North Sea International, during the British general election campaign. Broadcasts from the ship were subject to jamming by the British government. The Mi Amigo was auctio Produktdetails Abmessung: 246mm x 189mm x 1mm Gewicht: 181g Best.Nr.: 30081044 Kundenbewertungen Schreiben Sie eine Kundenbewertung zu diesem Produkt und gewinnen Sie mit etwas Glück einen 15,- EUR bücher.de-Gutschein! Radio Caroline & The British "Pirates" In 1927 the British government concluded that radio was such a powerful means of mass communication that it needed to be under state control, thus in 1927 they created a monopoly known as the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). The BBC was given government authority to raise revenue by charging a license fee to every home possessing a radio, and charged with the duty to provide programming.

The UK population had no say in the type of programming the BBC was delivering. By 1930 there were five million radio sets in Britain, all unavoidably tuned to the BBC. Through the ensuing years the BBC and the British government were increasingly hostile toward any competition to their radio monopoly. Their programming was limited mainly to programs aimed at boosting the morale of the British population. This situation continued into the fifties when things began to change when the American Rock & Roll era made its way into the country. Meanwhile in 1958 the first European "pirate" was Radio Mercur, broadcasting from international waters. Established by a group of Danish businessmen, the station transmitted from a small ship anchored off Copenhagen, Denmark. Radio Mercur's success led to other European groups starting similar ventures, including Radio Nord in 1960 anchored off Stockholm, Sweden. Radio Veronica in 1960 began broadcasting in Dutch from an old light ship anchored off the Dutch coast. Pop music on BBC radio was limited to short presentations of the music on weekends only and with straight laced announcers (no DJs).

Many pop-music-seeking British listeners turned to Radio Luxembourg, (*2) the only cross border broadcaster able to get back on the air after the war. Radio Luxembourg could only be heard at night in Britain when propagation was good. Despite the inconvenience of long periods of signal fading, Radio Luxembourg was extremely popular. In the 1960s the BBC initially enjoyed a statutory monopoly on radio in the UK. At that time the BBC broadcast little more than 2 hours per week of recorded popular music, a limit partly determined by the high level of royalties charged by record companies for airplay. From 1964 onwards, a number of pirate radio stations started broadcasting from ships and coastal forts located around the UK, but from outside the 3 mile limit of British territorial waters at that time. These pirate stations were not subject to British law in respect of both broadcasting rights and royalty payments. Most of them broadcast continuous recorded pop music and they funded themselves with advertising and sponsorship revenues. These stations were subsequently branded as "pirates". The most famous and longest-lasting was Radio Caroline. Caroline beginning- Ronan O'Rahilly is usually credited as the founder of British Pirate Radio.

In the early sixties, O'Rahilly, the son of a well-known and wealthy Irish family, came to London hoping to become involved in film making. (In the later 60's O'Rahilly was manager of actor George Lazenby, famous for playing James Bond just once in the movie "On Her Majesty's Secret Service". It was also O'Rahilly who convinced Lazenby NOT to sign up for a further multi-movie deal to continue playing Bond, insisting Bond was a fad that wouldn't last! Instead Sean Connery returned to play Bond again). O'Rahilly got into the music scene managing new young artists. He tried to get one of his clients Georgie Fame recorded, but the few record companies showed no interest. So he produced his own recording which he tried to promote. The BBC wouldn't play it because it wasn't on their preferred EMI or Decca labels. When he visited the head of Radio Luxembourg with his acetate recording, they showed him their limited air play lists, also dominated by EMI and Decca who had paid Luxembourg to play their records, and were booked up for the next five years. O'Rahilly decided he'd have to start his own radio station.

The story of how O'Rahilly actually came up with the specifics of how to start an independent radio station is debated. His story is that it was all his own idea after he learned of stations like the Voice of America operating from ships at sea, gathering information on the operation from the U.S. Embassy, and also visiting Radio Nord and Radio Veronica gathering information regarding offshore operations. The more likely reality is that O'Rahilly got his specific project ideas from those of an Australian businessman, Allan Crawford, who had years of experience in setting up his own record label and some involvement with Radio Veronica and a short-lived British-language station 'CNBC', which both broadcast from a Dutch radio ship. Crawford had come to his own decision to place a broadcast station in International waters off the UK Coast as a means of independently promoting artists, after experiencing the BBC/Luxembourg/Record Labels monopolies that O'Rahilly also encountered. O'Rahilly met Crawford in his office in 1962 to discuss Crawford's Project Atlanta, and charmed Crawford into believing O'Rahilly's (actually his father's) port in Greenore, Ireland, would be perfect for adapting his radio ship secretly.

In return for the offer, Crawford revealed all his plan details, covering flags of convenience, banking arrangements, costs, financing and so on, while continuing to think highly of the smooth-talking O'Rahilly despite the latter's hidden agendas. Crawford intended to buy the MV Mi Amigo, a ship already previously used as a radio ship for Swedish offshore stations including Radio Nord. The owner was then approached by O'Rahilly, attempting to buy it, but the owner was suspicious of his 'empty talk', and there was no deal. Crawford nearly got his station on air as early as 1962, when the Mi Amigo was even anchored in the North Sea close to Veronica at one point, but his backers became nervous regarding what the British Government's response might be to the sudden challenge to their authority, and withdrew their funding. Crawford lost the deal and the Texan-owned Mi Amigo ended up back in Galveston, where its broadcasting equipment was stripped out for conversion to a yacht. Crawford finally gained funding and bought the Mi Amigo in 1963. It sailed to various ports in Spain and finally Greenore, Ireland for radio/studio and mast installation.

Meanwhile, O'Rahilly had set out to fund his project. While in Dallas, Texas to buy transmitters, he was reading an article in Life magazine and was captivated by a photograph showing president John F. Kennedy's daughter Caroline playing in the Oval Office of the White House and disrupting the serious business of government. This was exactly the image he wanted for his station. The name had to be Radio Caroline. With finance in place, O'Rahilly's business partner Chris Moore went to Rotterdam, Holland and purchased an old Danish ferryboat named "Fredericia", to be renamed "MV Caroline", which sailed to Ronan's father's Greenore port for conversion, arriving just before Crawford's Mi Amigo. Although there was not so much conversion work required on the Mi Amigo, it was still delayed waiting its turn as priority was given to O'Rahilly's ship. Mi Amigo was to get a lighter 3-ton 141ft aluminium mast, but its arrival was also delayed. Radio studios were built on the MV Caroline's upper decks behind the ships bridge. Power generators were installed in the hold providing power for two 10 KW Continental medium wave (AM) broadcast transmitters.

The 13-ton steel 165ft vertical antenna mast was installed on the deck near the bow of the ship. They made test transmissions, which interfered with harbor lights and local TV and radio reception. Crawford and O'Rahilly had reached agreement to avoid competition, whereby Atlanta would broadcast to the southeast of England while Caroline would take up position off the Isle of Man to cover the northwest. However, when the completed MV Caroline sailed out of port, Atlanta was surprised to learn that Caroline sailed south and east around England to anchor three miles off the coast of Felixstowe, a seaside town north-east of London on the coast of Suffolk, a position close to Mi Amigo's intended anchorage. On Easter Sunday 28th March 1964 at 12noon, Radio Caroline officially started on air with the announcement "This is Radio Caroline on 199, your all day music station" - Simon Dee was the opening voice heard, announcing the first live show presented by Chris Moore. Records were played by an engineer 'through the glass' in the other studio. Most programs were recorded on land on reel-to-reel tapes and taken out to the ship to be played as 'live'.

Caroline was on the air, shattering the monopolies of the BBC and Luxembourg, and changing radio forever. Its 10,000watt signal was from a mere 80 miles from London and thus stronger than Luxembourg's. Broadcasting hours were initially limited from 6am to 6pm daily under the slogan "Your all-day music station" to avoid competition from Radio Luxembourg which broadcast in English at 6 pm. Radio Caroline came as a total surprise to the British authorities. They had been aware of the Atlanta project since 1962, but knew nothing about Caroline. The original wavelength was announced as "199" meters (1509 kHz), rhyming with "Caroline". In reality the station was on 197.3 meters (1520 kHz) at the low end of the medium wave band. The Dutch offshore station Radio Veronica was on 192 meters (1562 kHz). A month later, Crawford's "Radio Atlanta" ship Mi Amigo arrived, also anchored in international waters off the coast of Harwich, England and only a mile from Caroline. Atlanta had suffered further delays.

When both ships were in Greenore, two pairs of crystals - the component that sets the transmitter's frequency - had been ordered from America, one for each ship, but Caroline kept both sets. Atlanta had to use temporary replacements that were slightly off-frequency, causing some interference. Transmissions were also delayed by Swedish engineer Ove Sjostrom, who was employed by O'Rahilly and got Caroline on the air in Greenore. He had originally worked on Radio Nord (on the ship 'Bon Jour', later renamed 'Magda Maria', which became 'Mi Amigo') and gave Crawford a lot of advice for his Atlanta project, but was never paid. So for some revenge, he, with another Swede, approached the Mi Amigo when it anchored near MV Caroline and told them they were working on the ship. Invited on board, he went to the transmitter room and subtly sabotaged the transmitter without leaving evidence. Crawford did hold one ace up his sleeve: unlike O'Rahilly he had done his homework regarding the best position for anchoring his ship, in the 'Wallet Channel' between Frinton-on-Sea, Essex and the Gunfleet Sands, the latter providing some shelter from rough seas and currents.

Atlanta finally got on air on 27th April 1964, initially making test transmissions with announcements in French to disguise themselves. It officially started as Radio Atlanta on 12th May 1964 - cheekily commencing broadcasting at 6pm just when Caroline went off the air, and on the frequency of 201meters very close to Caroline's 199meters. Both stations operated independently, though sometimes serviced by the same tender boat from Harwich. Stories of supplies, records and 'jingles' being stolen from one party by the other abounded. Two months later the two stations merged. It came as much as a surprise to the crew and DJ's on the Mi Amigo: they were mostly kept in the dark after non-urgent ship-to-shore communications were stopped by the authorities in reaction to the 'law-breaking' of the pirates. MV Caroline drew near Mi Amigo and the captain crossed over to explain.

DJ's were given the choice of which ship to stay with when MV Caroline, being more seaworthy than the Mi Amigo, then sailed north to an anchorage in the Irish Sea off the coast of the Isle of Man to broadcast to Ireland, Scotland and the North of England as Radio Caroline North. Radio Atlanta on MV Mi Amigo became Radio Caroline South and remained at anchor off the Essex coast to cover London and the South East. It chose 201metres (1495 kHz) frequency but still announced itself as "199meters". As if to confirm the wisdom of Crawford's choice of anchorage off Frinton, Caroline South tried moving nearer to London and the Thames Estuary to improve coverage, but the turbulence caused by the shallower waters and stronger currents made conditions very rough for Mi Amigo, which returned to their original anchorage within a week. Radio Caroline became prosperous with its popularity, allowing their offices to move into the plush expensive Soho Mayfair area of London. Their 'Caroline Club' membership grew swiftly, and many pop groups, including big names such as the Beatles and Rolling Stones, owed their popularity to the airplay received from the pirate ships.

The DJs were mobbed like pop stars by teenage fans when they arrived off the ship's tender boat at Harwich Quay, after passing through the obligatory immigration and customs. However the British government classified both operations as "pirates" even though both were legally operating in international waters. In 1966 the British Postmaster General, Anthony Wedgwood Benn, introduced a law that proclaimed the so-called "pirate" stations illegal, alleging 'danger to shipping' by the 'unauthorized use of frequencies' by the pirates and subsequent radio interference, as one of several reasons. Another excuse the government cited was increasing troubles arising from the proliferation of the pirates. One was the "Radio City Affair". Reginald Calvert was 'owner' of an ex-Second-World War fort off Kent, England being used by another pirate, Radio City. In 1965 Caroline began to negotiate a take-over of Radio City. Calvert entered a deal with one of Radio Caroline's directors, Major Oliver Smedley, formerly with the Atlanta project, who provided a transmitter to the fort, which failed, causing Smedley to withdraw from the deal.

In 1966 Smedley boarded the fort with 10 workmen to repossess his unpaid-for transmitter. Calvert visited Smedley's home to demand the men leave his fort and return some transmitter parts, but in a violent altercation, Calvert was shot dead. Smedley was later acquitted from manslaughter charges. The weather often made things difficult for the ships. Even in summer, amidst spells of fine calm weather there could still be a swell, making the playing of records difficult, or rough weather delaying supply tenders. Listeners became fascinated to share their hardships, hearing the sounds of the ship being ravaged by storms in the background when the microphone was on. DJ Tony Blackburn however later admitted he sometimes threw things like ashtrays around the studio while on-air, to heighten the drama. The DJs and crew were removed from the ship by 'breeches buoy', taken care of by the police, and never charged. Only when they later saw press photos did they realize their incredible good luck. The 133ft ship had avoided serious shipwreck by floating over a large concrete breakwater then coming ashore right between two wooden breakwaters, within a larger gap where one breakwater had been removed years before.

It was the only gap in over 5 miles of coastline of 120ft-spaced breakwaters. The Mi Amigo was pulled off the beach on high tide two days later, and towed to Holland for a refit, gaining a generator, more-powerful transmitters and an antenna mast extension. Meanwhile Caroline took up an offer from 'Swedish Pirate Queen' Mrs. Britt Wadner, owner of pirate Radio Syd (South), to rent her ship Cheetah II. Mrs. Wadner had herself experienced legal wrangles with the authorities, Sweden having passed legislation to outlaw pirate stations in 1962. She had been jailed a number of times. Since by Swedish law prisoners can continue their profession while in jail, she had still been allowed to record programs in her Hinseberg prison cell! Now, it was said she had been advised the ship ought not broadcast off Sweden because of the dangers from pack ice, so the ship retreated south to warmer waters offshore Holland. But it's likely she also feared the tightening of Sweden's broadcasting laws.

Cheetah II's FM transmitters were not suitable for Britain so an AM transmitter, along with a generator, were brought back from Mi Amigo and installed on the ship, albeit running at lower than normal power, but enough to maintain their advertising income. Caroline was back on air after one month's absence, though it did have a lot of problems, frequently going off-air, and conditions on board the otherwise spacious ship were harsh. Mi Amigo returned 3 months later, but had technical problems trying to get back on air. There was a short circuit at the top of the mast, no engineers on board, and gales preventing one coming to the ship. The bored DJs decided to take action themselves, and one by one tried then succeeded in climbing the mast, without safety harness (its clip-on latches wouldn't fit the new upper mast section's rings), to clear the rogue wire. The hero was DJ Tony Blackburn, who never did get the $75 promised by Ronan O'Rahilly for doing the deed. They also had to replace some insulators that were breaking down due to the new transmitter's higher power.

Caroline now had TWO Caroline South's, Cheetah II on the original 199 meters, and Mi Amigo now on '259' (actually 252) meters, 1169 kHz, close to neighbor pirate Radio London on 266 (1133kHz) and BBC's 'Light Program on 247 (1214kHz). Gradually '199' persuaded its loyal listeners to move over to 259, after which Cheetah II's services were no longer required. Cheetah II remained in the area for awhile but got caught up in various problems, including drifting, impoundment, writs, disputes over ownership and attempts at sale. After more than a year the ship finally got free to resume its original intended voyage to Gambia, Africa from where it broadcast offshore, then became a restaurant, shop, and discotheque in the harbor, finally sinking there in the 70's after a storm. Britt Wadner also operated a hotel there. Meanwhile, Radio Caroline, with its improved power began to claw back audiences from its main rival 'Big L', Radio London.

It had further competition from another ship "Swinging Radio England" which also used slicker American-style jingles produced by the famous PAMS in Dallas, Texas. DJ's on Caroline sneakily recorded England's jingles to use for themselves, edited with "Radio Caroline" dubbed over the original station name where appropriate. O'Rahilly enjoyed the audacity for a couple of days then told his guys to stop, to avoid legal action. While marooned on the radio ships, crew and DJs missed the mainland especially on days when the coastline was clear and illuminated at night. One Caroline DJ, Johnnie Walker, took over the 9-midnight show. His intimate personal style was hugely popular and his 'Kiss in the Car', 'Frinton Flashing' and 'Ten O'Clock Turn On' features broke new ground on British radio. Motorists listening to Caroline would park their cars on the seafront along the coast with headlights directed at the radio ship. Johnnie would ask them to flash their headlights responding to various questions. By a process of elimination, they'd whittle down to an individual car.

Johnnie could conduct a 'conversation' to the point of establishing a name, home town and so on, and even set up 'blind date' meetings between cars with males, and cars with females. The infamous British "MOA" - "Marine, &c., Broadcasting (Offences) Act", became law on August 14, 1967. While the Act could not legally stop the broadcasts themselves from within international waters, it went after the main source of the station's income... advertisers.... by making it a criminal offence to supply or assist in any way such stations by persons subject to UK laws. Several other pirate stations that had appeared around the country's coast by this time - some on ships, others on ex-war forts - complied with the new law and closed down. Caroline listeners stayed tuned, anxious to find out what Caroline would do. At midnight, Johnny Walker famously addressed an estimated 20million listeners, passionately announcing "Radio Caroline would like to thank Mr. Harold Wilson and his Labour government for at last recognizing this station's right to exist, its right to be here and its right to provide you with entertainment, because we belong to you and we love you.

Caroline continues." followed by playing the protest song "We Shall Overcome". By continuing, the three Englishmen, DJs Walker, Robbie Dale and newsreader Ross Brown, now each faced up to two years in prison and a $600 fine if they ever returned to Britain. On land, Caroline House in London had already closed earlier and the station's operational headquarters transferred to Amsterdam. Ronan O'Rahilly, an Irish citizen, continued to operate quietly from the former Radio Atlanta office headquarters in Dean Street, London using the cover of a company 'Mid Atlantic Films'. O'Rahilly claimed only to be involved in the film production business. Although this was partially true, the company also acted as a secret base for recruiting Caroline staff and obtaining supplies and records. One of the first problems created by the new law was that the supply tender boat that formerly came out of Harwich with food, mail and other supplies, could no longer legally supply the station. Radio Caroline made arrangement to bring in supplies from Holland, which could take 24 hours. Often the ship would run short of water.

In reality, Caroline South was often illegally supplied by 'locals' sailing in small boats from the nearest ports, although only when good weather allowed, meaning it often suffered shortages during bad and winter weather. DJ's could be 'stranded' on the ship without relief for weeks. Station operators thought they could get around the law if they were staffed, supplied and funded by non-British citizens, but this proved impractical. Their funds began drying up through lack of British advertising. Following the loss of the Pirates from the Marine Offences Act, the BBC rearranged its organization, renaming existing channels as Radios One, Two, Three and Four. Radio One claimed to cater for the needs of pop-music-seeking pirate fans, and began on 30th September 1967. It employed several ex-pirate DJ's, including Simon Dee who had presented Caroline's first show. The first to be heard on Radio One was Tony Blackburn, the DJ who had climbed the mast to help get Caroline's Mi Amigo back on air just over a year before. Radio One initially proved too restricted, mostly unpopular and unsuccessful as a replacement for the energetic and much-missed pirates. Caroline suffered from its isolation, and difficulty in obtaining lucrative advertising.

The station confused the authorities who continually monitored their broadcasts, by airing unpaid-for 'dummy' adverts amidst the few that were genuine and brought in some funds, and those for which long-term contracts were still valid and had to be honored. They played old adverts for Beechams, Nestle, Bulova watches and Du Maurier and Peter Stuyvesant cigarettes, those companies then frequently having to explain to Home Office authorities that the ads were not authorized and no longer paid for. Caroline also heavily 'plugged' (promoted) selected artists, including David McWilliams, Roberto Mann Singers and Raymond LeFevre and His Orchestra amongst others, all on the Major Minor record label. It limited DJs' freedom and frustrated DJs and listeners alike, and was ironic considering Pirate Radio had been trying to overcome the monopoly of select chosen record labels by the BBC and Luxembourg, but it was supposedly of financially necessary. Major Minor's creator, Phil Solomon, was also a co-director of Caroline, a position earned as gratitude for his financial help to the station earlier.

But it has been suggested that much of the revenue from the frequent plugs didn't even make it back to Carolineï¿½ In March 1968, it was ironic that it was not The Law that brought an end to Radio Caroline, but simple Commercialism. Unable to pay their bills, particularly those of the company providing provisions, Radio Caroline went off the air when two Dutch tugs representing the supply company appeared unexpectedly at both North and South ships, cut their anchor chains, and towed the vessels away to a Dutch port to satisfy debts. Ended by true Piracy?! But - this was not to be the end of Radio Caroline! (Continued in Part Twoï¿½) The pirates genuinely suffered in bad weather in early 1966. Radio London, another pirate radio ship close by Caroline South and popular due to its 'American format', dragged its anchor in a gale and drifted into British territorial waters. It stayed off the air until towed back to its usual anchorage. Then just one week later Caroline's Mi Amigo suffered a similar fate. They realized too late that they'd drifted inside British waters, and the engineers removed transmitter crystals to hide in a drawer, lest they be confiscated by authorities.

Engines were started but failed to halt the drift. They feared for their lives, but the ship eventually got swept up onto the snow-covered beach near Frinton On Sea with a loud bump. The DJs and crew were removed from the ship by 'breeches buoy', taken care of by the police, and never charged. Only when they later saw press photos did they realize their incredible good luck. The 133ft ship had avoided serious shipwreck by floating over a large concrete breakwater then coming ashore right between two wooden breakwaters, within a larger gap where one breakwater had been removed years before. It was the only gap in over 5 miles of coastline of 120ft-spaced breakwaters. The Mi Amigo was pulled off the beach on high tide two days later, and towed to Holland for a refit, gaining a generator, more-powerful transmitters and an antenna mast extension. Meanwhile Caroline took up an offer from 'Swedish Pirate Queen' Mrs. Britt Wadner, owner of pirate Radio Syd (South), to rent her ship Cheetah II. Mrs.

Wadner had herself experienced legal wrangles with the authorities, Sweden having passed legislation to outlaw pirate stations in 1962. She had been jailed a number of times. Since by Swedish law prisoners can continue their profession while in jail, she had still been allowed to record programs in her Hinseberg prison cell! Now, it was said she had been advised the ship ought not broadcast off Sweden because of the dangers from pack ice, so the ship retreated south to warmer waters offshore Holland. But it's likely she also feared the tightening of Sweden's broadcasting laws. Cheetah II's FM transmitters were not suitable for Britain so an AM transmitter, along with a generator, were brought back from Mi Amigo and installed on the ship, albeit running at lower than normal power, but enough to maintain their advertising income. Caroline was back on air after one month's absence, though it did have a lot of problems, frequently going off-air, and conditions on board the otherwise spacious ship were harsh. Mi Amigo returned 3 months later, but had technical problems trying to get back on air. There was a short circuit at the top of the mast, no engineers on board, and gales preventing one coming to the ship.

The bored DJs decided to take action themselves, and one by one tried then succeeded in climbing the mast, without safety harness (its clip-on latches wouldn't fit the new upper mast section's rings), to clear the rogue wire. The hero was DJ Tony Blackburn, who never did get the $75 promised by Ronan O'Rahilly for doing the deed. They also had to replace some insulators that were breaking down due to the new transmitter's higher power. Caroline now had TWO Caroline South's, Cheetah II on the original 199 meters, and Mi Amigo now on '259' (actually 252) meters, 1169 kHz, close to neighbor pirate Radio London on 266 (1133kHz) and BBC's 'Light Program on 247 (1214kHz). Gradually '199' persuaded its loyal listeners to move over to 259, after which Cheetah II's services were no longer required. Cheetah II remained in the area for awhile but got caught up in various problems, including drifting, impoundment, writs, disputes over ownership and attempts at sale.

After more than a year the ship finally got free to resume its original intended voyage to Gambia, Africa from where it broadcast offshore, then became a restaurant, shop, and discotheque in the harbor, finally sinking there in the 70's after a storm. Britt Wadner also operated a hotel there. Meanwhile, Radio Caroline, with its improved power began to claw back audiences from its main rival 'Big L', Radio London. It had further competition from another ship "Swinging Radio England" which also used slicker American-style jingles produced by the famous PAMS in Dallas, Texas. DJ's on Caroline sneakily recorded England's jingles to use for themselves, edited with "Radio Caroline" dubbed over the original station name where appropriate. O'Rahilly enjoyed the audacity for a couple of days then told his guys to stop, to avoid legal action. While marooned on the radio ships, crew and DJs missed the mainland especially on days when the coastline was clear and illuminated at night. One Caroline DJ, Johnnie Walker, took over the 9-midnight show.

His intimate personal style was hugely popular and his 'Kiss in the Car', 'Frinton Flashing' and 'Ten O'Clock Turn On' features broke new ground on British radio. Motorists listening to Caroline would park their cars on the seafront along the coast with headlights directed at the radio ship. Johnnie would ask them to flash their headlights responding to various questions. By a process of elimination, they'd whittle down to an individual car. Johnnie could conduct a 'conversation' to the point of establishing a name, home town and so on, and even set up 'blind date' meetings between cars with males, and cars with females. The infamous British "MOA" - "Marine, &c., Broadcasting (Offences) Act", became law on August 14, 1967. While the Act could not legally stop the broadcasts themselves from within international waters, it went after the main source of the station's income... advertisers.... by making it a criminal offence to supply or assist in any way such stations by persons subject to UK laws.

Several other pirate stations that had appeared around the country's coast by this time - some on ships, others on ex-war forts - complied with the new law and closed down. Caroline listeners stayed tuned, anxious to find out what Caroline would do. At midnight, Johnny Walker famously addressed an estimated 20million listeners, passionately announcing "Radio Caroline would like to thank Mr. Harold Wilson and his Labour government for at last recognizing this station's right to exist, its right to be here and its right to provide you with entertainment, because we belong to you and we love you. Caroline continues." followed by playing the protest song "We Shall Overcome". By continuing, the three Englishmen, DJs Walker, Robbie Dale and newsreader Ross Brown, now each faced up to two years in prison and a $600 fine if they ever returned to Britain. On land, Caroline House in London had already closed earlier and the station's operational headquarters transferred to Amsterdam. Ronan O'Rahilly, an Irish citizen, continued to operate quietly from the former Radio Atlanta office headquarters in Dean Street, London using the cover of a company 'Mid Atlantic Films'. O'Rahilly claimed only to be involved in the film production business.

Although this was partially true, the company also acted as a secret base for recruiting Caroline staff and obtaining supplies and records. One of the first problems created by the new law was that the supply tender boat that formerly came out of Harwich with food, mail and other supplies, could no longer legally supply the station. Radio Caroline made arrangement to bring in supplies from Holland, which could take 24 hours. Often the ship would run short of water. In reality, Caroline South was often illegally supplied by 'locals' sailing in small boats from the nearest ports, although only when good weather allowed, meaning it often suffered shortages during bad and winter weather. DJ's could be 'stranded' on the ship without relief for weeks. Station operators thought they could get around the law if they were staffed, supplied and funded by non-British citizens, but this proved impractical. Their funds began drying up through lack of British advertising. Following the loss of the Pirates from the Marine Offences Act, the BBC rearranged its organization, renaming existing channels as Radios One, Two, Three and Four. Radio One claimed to cater for the needs of pop-music-seeking pirate fans, and began on 30th September 1967.

It employed several ex-pirate DJ's, including Simon Dee who had presented Caroline's first show. The first to be heard on Radio One was Tony Blackburn, the DJ who had climbed the mast to help get Caroline's Mi Amigo back on air just over a year before. Radio One initially proved too restricted, mostly unpopular and unsuccessful as a replacement for the energetic and much-missed pirates. Caroline suffered from its isolation, and difficulty in obtaining lucrative advertising. The station confused the authorities who continually monitored their broadcasts, by airing unpaid-for 'dummy' adverts amidst the few that were genuine and brought in some funds, and those for which long-term contracts were still valid and had to be honored. They played old adverts for Beechams, Nestle, Bulova watches and Du Maurier and Peter Stuyvesant cigarettes, those companies then frequently having to explain to Home Office authorities that the ads were not authorized and no longer paid for. Caroline also heavily 'plugged' (promoted) selected artists, including David McWilliams, Roberto Mann Singers and Raymond LeFevre and His Orchestra amongst others, all on the Major Minor record label.

It limited DJs' freedom and frustrated DJs and listeners alike, and was ironic considering Pirate Radio had been trying to overcome the monopoly of select chosen record labels by the BBC and Luxembourg, but it was supposedly of financially necessary. Major Minor's creator, Phil Solomon, was also a co-director of Caroline, a position earned as gratitude for his financial help to the station earlier. But it has been suggested that much of the revenue from the frequent plugs didn't even make it back to Carolineï¿½ In March 1968, it was ironic that it was not The Law that brought an end to Radio Caroline, but simple Commercialism. Unable to pay their bills, particularly those of the company providing provisions, Radio Caroline went off the air when two Dutch tugs representing the supply company appeared unexpectedly at both North and South ships, cut their anchor chains, and towed the vessels away to a Dutch port to satisfy debts. Ended by true Piracy?! But - this was not to be the end of Radio Caroline!

When the pirates took over radio - CNN.com When the pirates took over radio By Todd Leopold, CNN Philip Seymour Hoffman and Nick Frost are among the stars of "Pirate Radio." STORY HIGHLIGHTS Pirate radio stations flourished in UK in mid-1960s BBC played little pop music, so rogue broadcasters set up in international waters Many of people involved were Americans, including a Texas entrepreneur British government eventually outlawed pirates, started own BBC station RELATED TOPICS British Broadcasting Corporation (CNN) -- In early 1964, the British Invasion dominated American airwaves. From WABC in New York to KRLA in Los Angeles, California, the radio dial pulsed with the Beatles and their brethren, injecting more excitement into a medium that was already jumping with crazy DJs, cash-call contests and battles of the bands. But the British Invasion on British radio? Good luck. While Beatlemania took over the world, Great Britain's ever-so-proper BBC filled its air with a melange of news, gardening tips, dramas, plummy announcements and maybe -- maybe -- the occasional pop record. At night, the radio dial was almost empty, as many stations signed off at nightfall.

Enter the pirates, entrepreneurs and radio personalities who set up shop on ships just outside British territorial waters and broadcast a powerful signal back into the motherland. The era is the subject of the new film "Pirate Radio," starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, which opens Friday. The peak of the so-called "pirate radio" stations was only three years -- from 1964 until 1967 -- but in that time the freewheeling broadcasts, many staffed by Americans, brought a party atmosphere and a pop music variety to a country that had never experienced such a sound. "Everything was very conservative, controlled by the old guard [there]," recalls Bruce "Cousin Brucie" Morrow, a leading American DJ on the No. 1 station in the country, New York's WABC. The British DJs, Morrow recalls, would come over and study Morrow and his counterparts, staying for weeks at a time. "The only way they could get rock 'n' roll was by recordings or somebody would smuggle something in from the United States. ... And young people wanted their own music." Radio Caroline, the first of the notable pirate radio stations, went on the air on Easter weekend 1964.

Though it would be considered relatively staid by modern ears, it was a sensation in Europe. Among its early competition was Radio Atlanta, founded by American Top 40 pioneer Gordon McLendon, whose idea for a pirate station had actually been pirated itself by Caroline founder Ronan O'Rahilly. (Another station, the non-pirate but expansive Radio Luxembourg, had been focusing on the teen market for several years but was far more restrictive in its programming.) The pirate stations were thrilling to British youth. "You could jam that transistor way up tight against your ear and you'd hear nothing but righteous music all day long," wrote pop critic Nik Cohn in his history of rock music, "A Wop Bop a Loo Bop a Lop Bam Boom." "Nothing unpop, no crap broke in on you." The stations were also proudly commercial, unusual in the public broadcasting world of Europe. With a growing teen market, a number of investors saw dollar signs on the pirate boats. Among them was Don Pierson, a businessman from Eastland, Texas. Pierson, whom his son Grey describes as "beyond colorful," had been a car dealer, banker, Eastland mayor and local character when he saw an article on Radio Caroline in a newspaper.

As an unreleased documentary about Pierson, "Swinging Radio England," details, he immediately seized on the idea for his own pirate station. "He was born without the gene that tells you what you can't do," says Grey Pierson, now a Dallas-area attorney. Don Pierson, who would make a dandy subject for a movie himself, was an admirer of McLendon's Dallas station, KLIF, one of the most manic in the country, and based his Wonderful Radio London on KLIF's format. After losing control of that station months after it went on the air in December 1964, he started another pirate broadcaster, Swinging Radio England. The pirate stations lived up to their swashbuckling moniker. The staffs would share quarters on the old, barely refurbished boats for weeks at a time, creating a hothouse atmosphere separate from the broadcasts themselves. Guests would have to be ferried in and out. Roger Day, one of the Radio England DJs, describes it in the documentary as "a Boy Scout camp gone mad." Eventually, camp came to an end. Radio England, which was beset by technical difficulties, shut down in late 1966.

More important, the British government, which frowned on the pirates, made their lives difficult by haranguing the broadcasters. "In 1967, the government passed the Marine Broadcast Offences Act [which effectively outlawed pirate stations]," recalls Morrow, an encyclopedia of radio knowledge and the author of the new "Rock and Roll: And the Beat Goes On." "That's how serious pirate radio got." The act became law in August 1967. Six weeks later, the BBC launched Radio 1, its capitulation to the youth culture. The first DJ on the air was a pirate veteran, Tony Blackburn; it used the PAMS jingles beloved by American stations, and the first record it broadcast was "Flowers in the Rain" by the rebellious UK band the Move. There are few reminders of the pirate radio era today. The Who paid tribute to Radio London on its 1967 album, "The Who Sell Out," and some of the personalities, including Blackburn and the late Kenny Everett, established long careers. But mostly pirate radio established that, in Britain, rock 'n' roll was here to stay.

Morrow, who was invited to guest DJ on Caroline but declined for various reasons (not the least of which, he said, is "I don't like boats"), says he was entranced by the spirit of the buccaneers. "They loved the American radio style," he says. And the audience responded in kind: "When a tidal wave starts, you can't stop it." Share this on:

Question: Which English pirate radio station was founded by Ronan O’Rahilly in 1964?
Answer: Radio Caroline